Draco Duckling
by Trinka
Summary: What happens when a girl from the States transfers to Hogwarts? Give up? Hilarity insues...Poor Draco!
1. Proverbial Dirt

This is just going to be a one shot, but if people like it, it may be a series of random happenings at Hogwarts that I deem would come about if this dumb Yankee happened to transfer to Hogwarts.  hehehe   BTW, the last name Taliaferro is pronounced Toliver and although the personality portrayed is based loosely on my own personality, the family talked about it completely made up.

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"Albus, this has never been allowed before.  She'll have a lot of catching up to do."  Minerva McGonagall sat stiffly in the chair in front of the headmaster's desk.

"She has been being home-schooled, of sorts, by her parents, for the last several years.  They had to convince the Ministry to allow it, but I'm sure you remember her mother.  She was in your year, I recall.  Very bright student.  If anyone can teach their child by themselves it's her and Walter."

Minerva opened her mouth and closed it with a click.  She remembered Constance, alright.  If Minerva had been a teacher when Constance was a student, Minerva would have loved the bright young woman.  But having been another student at the time, she couldn't stand the arrogant know-it-all.  _I just hope her daughter isn't like her,_ thought the Deputy Head Mistress crossly.

"But, why now, Albus?"

"Constance and Walter have never approved of the schools in the United States.  They decided, however, that Victoria was too much for them to handle, so they want her to go to some Wizarding school.  They decided on the one they both attended."

_Oh my giddy aunt!_  thought Minerva.  _If they can't handle their daughter, how are we to?_

*

"Wait a minute. . .platform _what_?"  Victoria Taliaferro stopped dead in her tracks as she looked unblinkingly at the ticket in her hand.  "Is there something wrong here, or do they just use different train numbers than they do in the States?"

"Victoria, don't stop in the middle of where people are walking!  Have you no manners?"  Her father, a tall man with extra padding around the mid-section, shoved her in the lower back to get her moving.  

Her mother, walking beside her, started straightening her daughters dark curls as she explained.  "It's magic, dear.  Remember magic?  We've been teaching it to you since you were 10.  And don't talk about it so loud."

Victoria rolled her eyes.  Oh, to finally get away from her parents for a while.

The continued walking, pushing the trolley in front of them, until they got to the divider between platforms nine and ten.  Her parents then proceeded to shove her into a wall that, thankfully, melted away when she touched it and sent her to platform 9 ¾.

_Why not platform 9 ½, I wonder?  I don't think I was any closer to platform ten than I was to 9 when I walked through._

Her parents unceremoniously threw all her things, minus her trunk, onto the train and insisted on reminding her of all the things they'd already told her on the flight over here.

Finally, she boarded the train.  Dragging the trunk behind her, she settled herself in one of the compartments, sat down, checked her watch – and groaned.  She was three quarters of an hour early.  Sighing, she pulled out a book.  So engrossed she had become, that it took her a moment, to realize someone was talking to her from the doorway.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" she asked smiling embarrassedly.

"We were just wondering if we could share your compartment with you."

She nodded and smiled as an assortment of people joined her.  One was dark of hair and had the greenest eyes she'd ever seen.  Two were redheaded and freckle adorned, obviously brother and sister.  The last had light brown hair with the kind of body Victoria's mother always wished Victoria's hair had.

"You're not a first year," said the redheaded boy as though confused.

Victoria smiled, very amused and responded.  "No, I'm not.  I'm a 6th year.  I've been home-schooled.  I guess you'd call me a transfer student."

"I didn't know they did that," said the tawny haired girl.

"They don't.  The Minister of Magic back at the states convinced Professor Dumbledore to allow it as a favor to my parents."

"There's another Minister of Magic in the states?" asked the boy with the emerald green eyes.

The redheaded girl rolled her eyes.  "Fudge can't possibly be in charge of Wizards in every country, now can he?"

The door to the compartment suddenly opened and their entered another girl with a vaguely vacant expression on her face.  "Who are you?" she asked without preamble, starring directly at Victoria.

"I'm Victoria Taliaferro, daughter of Constance and Walter Taliaferro.  I hail from Seattle Washington and am a new 6th year student.  Would you like my height, weight and study habits?"

"No.  That was enough."  And with that, she walked out.

Victoria blinked a few times.  "Who was that?" she laughed.

"That would be Luna Lovegood.  Don't worry, you get used to her.  By the way, I'm Hermione Granger.  This is Ron and Ginny Weasley, and Harry Potter." At this, she looked expectantly at Victoria as though waiting for some kind of response.

"What?  I already told you my name."  She was getting confused.

"This is _Harry Potter," she stated again._

"I heard you the first time." Victoria was very confused now.

The boy named Harry Potter smiled jubilantly and stood up to shake Victoria's hand.  "I think I like you already." He stated.

Victoria shook his hand, smiling a bit as she quirked an eyebrow.  What the heck was that all about?

*

The rest of the ride was spent in similar talk.  They got to really introducing themselves and the whole group was shocked to hear of her lineage.

"You're pureblooded?"  Hermione asked tentatively.

"Yeah, one of the few pureblooded families left on the West Coast.  My parents constantly remind me of this." She added, rolling her eyes.

"How do you feel about that?" asked Harry, sounding very much like a psychiatrist.

"Well, don't have much choice do I?" answered Victoria with a laugh

"I'm muggleborn," offered Hermione, once again looking as though she expected a reaction.

"Okay," was all Victoria could think to answer.

There was silence in the compartment for what seemed like several minutes before the door once again.  In strode what she considered the Wizarding Poster Child – and he was hot to boot.  He was tall with white blonde hair, and an obvious confidence in himself.  He was flanked by two boys of like age who looked as though they could easily knock themselves senseless by accident.

"Had a good summer, scar face?  I see your still alive, mudblood.  Shame.  Pockets still empty Weasels?" he sneered at them all.  Dang he was good-looking.  He was a shmuck, but good-looking just the same.

"Do you always hurl random insults at people, or do you think you're too good for civilized conversation?"  All eyes turned to Victoria, most looking shocked but amused.  Three however locked onto her with the intensity of homing radar.

"Who are you," hot-boy asked contemptuously.

Victoria sighed.  "That seems to be the only question I'm getting today.  I've gone through this before.  I am Victoria Taliaferro, daughter of Constance and Walter Taliaferro."  All this was said in a very bored tone.  "Who, may I ask, are you, oh boorish one?"

Glaring in a way that Victoria assumed was supposed to be menacing, he answered her.  "I am Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy."

"What horrible names!" Victoria cooed in mock sympathy.  "You must have had an awful childhood.  No doubt people were able to think of ghastly nicknames for you.  Dragon-breath, Draco Mal-fuction. . .?  No wonder you insult others."  She painted her face with a sickly pitying look and tried to make her eyes water as though about to cry.

"You would do to treat me with more respect mudblood!"

"There's that word again.  What exactly does it mean, oh mighty Dragon-boy?"

"It means he thinks your blood isn't as pure as his, and he thinks that makes him better," supplied Ginny with the air of one trying to be helpful.  That obviously was not her true intent.

Victoria laughed.  Then she looked at the horrified look on Draco's face and laughed some more.  "Oh, my dear Dreconnaissance.  Haven't you heard?  You're not the purest of the pure anymore.  My families Wizard ancestry goes back to Merlin and further.  So watch who you insult.  Though, I don't quite understand.  I assume it's supposed to mean dirty blood," she looked to Ginny and the others for confirmation.  "Well, then, the way I see it, the proverbial dirt doesn't come from mixing wizard with muggle.  That's like mixing milk with chocolate.  The dirt comes when the milk is rancid.  You, my dear Dragon, have been in the sun too long."

Draco was speechless.  As were his cronies, but Victoria assumed that had more to do with the fact that they probably had no idea what she just said, than that they were as livid as their chief.

Without so much as a word, but with much glaring the three extracted themselves from the compartment and closed the door with a bang.

"My, that was enjoyable.  Though, I usually prefer battling wits with someone a bit more armed."

The silence being broken, the rest of the compartment started laughing.  Several of the other occupants clapped her on the back, but no individual comments were heard due to the overall cacophony.

Wiping tears from his eyes, Ron spoke, "This year will be unlike any other with you here."

*

They finally reached Hogwarts.  Victoria was feeling a bit self-conscious in her robes.  She'd never had to wear the like before.  As she stepped off the train, without her trunk (she was told it would be taken care of) she saw the largest man she had ever seen.

"Firs' years'is way.  Don' be shy.  Ah, you'd be Victoria, would ya?"

Victoria nodded.  Though her mouth was slightly slack, her vocal chords refused to respond.

"You'll be comin' wi' me then."

There's was nothing for it.  Her voice would not come.  She had no choice but to nod yet again.

She felt rather awkward surrounded by a bunch of kidlets.  She towered over most of them, and she wasn't that tall to begin with.  The boat ride across was just as embarrassing.  She kept getting wide eyed looks from the first years.  They were obviously wondering if, either she looked a whole heckuvalot older than she was or there had been some mistake.  _Yes, there had been a mistake, she thought.  _But the big man made me do it!__

They reached the castle, which was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen.  Up and in they traveled until they were just outside a large room that obviously, if the sound was any indication, held the rest of the student body.

An elderly witch stood waiting for them and explained the sorting procedure.  "Victoria, you'll be going last.  We've never had a transfer student, and were not sure how the sorting hat will respond to you."

Victoria shrugged.  "Whatever works."  She was proud that none of her nervousness was evident in her voice.

They walked into the great hall.  The elderly witch, who had introduced herself as Professor McGonagall placed a stool and an old hat on a platform in front of the head table.  Each of the first years were sorted into their prospective houses, until finally, all that was left was for Victoria to be sorted.

"Taliaferro, Victoria." McGonagall called out.

Victoria felt like groaning.  There had been no explanation, so no doubt the whole school thought she was a first year.  This was not going well.

The hat was placed on her head.

"What's this?  You're not a first year."  _So I've heard_, she thought.  The hat laughed.  "This is an experience I've yet to deal with.  Your parents were easy enough.  There was nowhere but Slytherin to place them.  You, however. . .bright mind, like your mother.  I also see loyalty.  And there is courage, yes, in abundance.  But I shall still have to go with – SLYTHERIN!" only the last was heard by anyone else.  The hall was filled with sound so no one heard her groan, but several Gryffindors saw the look on her face.

She looked over at the table of green and silver and saw the Dragon-child growl and slump further down in his seat.  Victoria smiled.  Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

So. . .whataya think?  Should I continue?  I have to say, my favorite part had to be when she was talking about dirty blood.  I can scarcely believe I thought of all that.  This turned out much better than I expected.  I do hope you all like it.  If not, I enjoyed writing it, so I'm okay :)  Tell me what you think!


	2. A Lesson in Civility

Thank you to all my lovely reviewers!!  First off, my beta reader, and longest reviewer (!)  A.M. Winters.  Thanks also to authentik, Funkie Star, Mikee and Spaced Out Space Cadet (she always reviews my stuff!!)

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Victoria was one of the last students to reach the Slytherin common room, seeing as how she had no idea where she was going and no one seemed too keen to show her how to get there.  When she did finally find her way there, it took her almost as long to find the sixth year girls dormitory.

Looking around she smirked at the interior.  Situated in the heart of the dungeons, the dorms would have suited someone from the gothic era.  _I feel as though I should be wearing all black and painting my face with white foundation and thick black eyeliner._

After finally get a response from one of the other Slytherins, she was directed to the sixth year girls' dormitory and was confronted by a girl with the face only a mother could love.

"This is the sixth year dorms.  First years are on the ground floor," she growled.

"Thanks.  That's very helpful."  Victoria answered with an indulgent smile then walked over to her trunk and started taking things out; first her wand, just in case.  She didn't trust that girl any further than she could throw her.

"What do you think you are doing?"

"Taking a few things out of my trunk.  I assume that's still allowed."

"Your trunk?"

Closing the lid (a bit more loudly than was necessary) Victoria pointed to the calligraphy on the lid.  "Victoria Evin Taliaferro" it said.

"You're a sixth year?" The girl seemed revolted by the fact, which Victoria thought was a little over done, but who was she to say?

"Yes."  Victoria thought, at times like this, that simplicity worked best.  One word answers…don't confuse the girl too badly.

"I'm Pansy Parkinson," this being said, she just stood there staring at Victoria.

"Nice to meet you.  I assume you can read, so I won't have to tell you my name," she indicated her name on the top of her trunk again, just in case Pansy had forgotten.

Pansy looked as though she wasn't sure if she was supposed to be insulted or not, so she decided to keep talking.  This reminded Victoria sharply of a very good quote she'd heard of a while ago: "Never miss a good chance to shut up."  This would be a good quote for Miss Parkinson to live by.

"What are you doing here?" she asked out of nowhere.

Thinking to herself that "Where are you from" would have been a more appropriate question, Victoria decided to answer her just the same.

"I transferred here.  I was being home-schooled until just recently, but my parents wanted me to come here.  Why are you here?"  And without waiting for a response, she lifted the lid back up on her trunk and started rummaging around again.

Suddenly she was being grabbed by the back of her robes and spun around.  "Don't you turn your back on me."

Before Pansy saw what was coming, a wand, nine inches of rosewood with a furies' tail-feather, was pointed straight between her eyes.

"Don't. . .touch me." Victoria growled.  Pansy slowly stepped away, but Victoria kept her wand up and pointing.

"I don't like rudeness, so if you don't mind, I would appreciate it if you would not be rude.  Rudeness, in case you don't know, consists of things like grabbing people's robes and shoving them bodily.  It could also be asking rude questions or trying to demean the other person because you feel inadequate.  Do I make myself clear?"  No response.  "Well?" she practically screamed.

"Yes," Pansy squeaked.  That was the only way to describe it.

"Good.  You may leave."  This last bit was said very sweetly, yet Pansy seemed more frightened by the soft voice than she did when Victoria had yelled at her.  Interesting.  Must remember that.

After Pansy scurried away Victoria began to regret her outburst.  _No doubt she was spreading all over the common room downstairs how insane I am.  'Course, if I don't make friends with any of the other Slytherins I'm sure I won't mind!_

Picking up her wand and a favorite book, Victoria decided to go down to the common room and see how badly Pansy had been portraying her to the others.

She was quite surprised when she cam down to see Pansy, not whispering maliciously with people, but cowing by herself in a corner.  Victoria began to regret yelling at her even more now, but for a completely different reason.

She found a seat in front of the fire and sat down to read, her wand balancing on her knee, but she never quite got to actually reading from her book.  Instead, she saw another figure, cowering not too far from her.  Draco was sitting in another chair by the fire with his head turned away at a very uncomfortable angle using a book to try to hide his face.  She stood up and he covered himself even more with the book.

"Boo," was all she said, and yet he jumped some three feet in the air and made a noise like a wounded puppy dog.  _Oh.__ . .how cute!_

"Why are you hiding behind a book oh, almighty wicked one?"

Draco glared at her and stood up swiftly, hoping to catch her off her guard.  It didn't work.

"You may call me Malfoy.  Nothing else.  I will only allow the use of my last name from you!"

Victoria laughed and placed a hand on his chest.  "Ah, darling, I can call you whatever I want."  Draco's face flushed, mostly from anger, but he kept looking down at her hand.  Was he embarrassed?  _Better milk this for all it's worth she thought before looking at his chest then back into his eyes.  "Do you have rocks in there?  Nice pecks."  And to finish it off, she walked past him and smacked him directly on the backside._

Several of the other occupants were staring at her now, having been doing so since she and Draco had started talking.  She smiled sweetly at them and swept out of the room to find a more restful place to read.

Pansy walked up to Draco, trembling slightly, more out of anger than anything else.  "How could she do that to you, Drackie?"  She petted his arm and he bristled and pulled back from her.  

"Don't touch me," he said with contempt.

"You didn't seem to mind too much when _she_ was touching you!"  Pansy harrumphed and stalked away.

Draco didn't move.  He _hadn't_ minded when Victoria had touched him.  He could still feel the spot, as though it was tingling beneath his robes.  How strange.  Draco shook himself, resumed his usual scowl and walked back to his seat.  He wouldn't hide from her again.  He would play it cool.  Then, when the time came, he would make her regret ever messing with him.

"How dare she smack my bum!" he muttered heatedly, but the color came back to his checks at the memory.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sorry this is so short.  I know what I want to happen next, but I wanted to make you wait for it *bwa-ha-haaa!*  I hope everyone liked this one!  If you did, tell me.  If you didn't, tell me how to improve it (I may not change what you want me to, but I'd be glad for the input anyway).  As always, any comments, questions, marriage proposals or death threats are welcome :)


	3. Roast Duck

The Potions classroom felt like a meat locker when Victoria walked in the next morning after breakfast. She had taken her O.W.L.S. by correspondence and was, as such, able to take the N.E.W.T. level Potions class. She was very much looking forward to this class as it was her best subject. It had also been her mother's best subject. There was just something about potions making that relaxed Victoria, and she needed something to help her relax.

Last night had progressively gotten worse. After leaving the Common Room to read she had lost track of time and had almost gotten caught by the Caretaker (who reminded Victoria very much of the hunchback her parents bought their potion ingredients from; a very bizarre man with an even more bizarre sense of superiority). When she did reach the dormitories again, which took almost as long as the first time, Pansy and a few other girls had decided to "hide" all over her things around the room. _I knew I should have locked the trunk._ She spent a good part of the next hour whispering "_Accio_ Robes. _Accio__ books." Until she was sure she had everything before she went to bed. And she made sure to secure a padlock on the trunk this time. They may be able to unlock magically locked doors, but she'd like to see them try to magik a padlock!_

Victoria shook that thought from her mind as she searched the classroom for a seat and found one right next to her favorite bad-boy.

Walking silently up behind him, Victoria leaned over and whispered "Is this seat taken?" directly into his ear. She took much satisfaction is seeing the hairs on his neck stand on end a split second before he jerked and toppled inelegantly to the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry Duck, I didn't mean to startle you!" cooed Victoria as she leaned in to help Draco up. To her amusement he crab-walked backwards to keep out of reach and glared – which, given the situation, looked a little impotent.

A couple of seats over, she heard someone laughing and looked up to see none other than Harry Potter. "Why Duck?" he asked between laughs.

"Why, isn't that what Drako means? Male duck? I looked it up in the dictionary last night. Duckling here didn't like the name I was calling him before, so I thought I'd think of another. I don't think he likes this one either though." Victoria pretended to pout as she shot hurt looks toward the still sprawled Slytherin.

"What were you calling him that made him mad," asked Ron, sitting next to Harry with a look of one hoping for more verbal ammo.

"I'm not sure. Which name was it that you didn't like? Almighty Wicked One? Dragon-breath? Draco Malfunction? My Dear Dragon? I guess he just doesn't like my creativity."

By this time, Draco had peeled himself from the floor and walked up to Victoria. _This should be good,_ she thought, seeing the look on his face. _H'mmmm__.__ . .since he prefers the use of his last name, Draco Malfury would be a good one for now._

"If you persist in calling me nicknames, I will find one for you."

"No! You wouldn't!" Harry and Ron laughed. Hermione, who had just walked in, was trying to understand the tirade and seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Just don't call me Vicky. Or Tory! Oh, please, for the love of all things muggle, don't call me Tory!" Victoria's eyes were wide with mock horror as Draco rolled his eyes in an attempt to calm himself and sat down. _That's all? That was hardly even worth the effort._

"I guess Ducky doesn't have any more to say. We'll see," she said towards Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but it was meant for Draco. And, without further ado, she sat in the seat beside Draco. He groaned. _Not all is lost. I may get a reaction out of him after all._

No sooner had she sat down then a resounding clang echoed through the dungeon as the door slammed shut behind a man who was obviously the Potions Master. He looked familiar. She had seen him at the feast last night, but she knew him from somewhere else too.

"Welcome to N.E.W.T. level Potions. Most of you should not get comfortable in this class ("As though that's possible" Victoria heard someone mutter.) as you may not be staying long in it." He scanned the room and his eyes widened in an emotion Victoria could not read as his eyes landed on her.

"The directions for today's Potion are on the board," they appeared as he waved his wand. "I expect positive results from all of you. You are in N.E.W.T. level potions, I expect you to act like it." All this was said without taking his eyes off Victoria. It was a bit disconcerting, but Victoria was sure to not blink as she stared back at him.

"You are the new Slytherin sixth year." She wasn't sure if it was a question or not, but she decided to answer anyway.

"I am sir. And, might I ask who you are?" _Respectful, _Victoria__.___ Be sure to be respectful._

"I am Professor Snape, head of Slytherin house." His voice had a velvety tone to it that reminded her of her father.

"Wait. Snape? Forgive my impertinence, but. . .Severus Snape?"

His eyes narrowed a bit. "Yes."

She suddenly knew where she had seen him before. "Severus Snape! My parents talk about you all the time! My mother always tells me how good you were in Potions, and how you were the one to get her interested. She said watching the passion you put into your potions was like watching the greatest artist create his masterpiece right before her eyes."

Next to her, Victoria heard what was unmistakably the sound of someone trying to cover up a snigger with a cough. She glared shortly at Draco then centered all her attention at Snape again. He seemed slightly taken aback by her words but confusion was the prominent emotion.

"What was your name?"

"Victoria Taliaferro, Sir."

Snape blinked. "As in, Walter Taliaferro?"

Victoria smiled widely. "Yes, he's my father."

"And your mother is. . ."

"Constance Ledbetter."

Snape's eyebrows drew together in deep thought as he stared directly through Victoria at the wall behind her. "She married him?" he said with disgust. You would think that such a comment would make Victoria angry, but on the contrary. She couldn't agree more. Her parents were very ill suited for each other. But, who was she to decide such a thing?

Coming out of his reverie, he looked back at Victoria with an expression that looked soft on his chiseled face. "Get to work on your potion, Taliaferro." And she did.

An hour later, her potion was simmering with a light chocolate brown color and soft green smoke billowing from it. _Perfect,_ she thought with a smile. It was exactly how Snape had described the accurate result.

Next to her, Draco's potion was close, but was more of a russet brown. He seemed quite proud of himself though. That is, until he saw her potion. Victoria didn't know that one with such a light complexion could turn such a vibrant color!

*

That night at dinner Victoria sat as close as she could get to Draco. This, however, was more difficult than it should have been. He was flanked on each side by several other Slytherins, each of which glared at her at random intervals. She sat a dozen people down and on the opposite side, so she was able to see every anxious look he sent her way.

She finished her dinner faster than some of the others and decided to go be social. But, since "Drakie" (she'd heard Pansy use this pet name earlier and found it quite fitting) didn't seem to want to socialize, she did something that she gathered was unheard of. She, a Slytherin, went to talk to the Gryffindors.

What seemed to be half the student body, watched her as she walked across the room and sat down next to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. They seemed just as shocked as everyone else. "If I make you uncomfortable, I could leave."

"Don't be silly," replied Hermione, a little belatedly, but genuinely, just the same. In that half hour, Victoria had more fun talking to the three of them than she had had since she'd gotten there. Well, not quite; nothing could beat a little Draco-torture for pleasure.

She glanced back over to the Slytherin table in time to see Draco shooting, not his usual nervous looks, but one entirely different; one she couldn't discern.

"Do you fancy him?" asked Ron with a repulsed look on his face.

Victoria smiled viciously. "I'm not sure. But I sure am enjoying tormenting him." She smirked mischievously. "He doesn't seem to be as affected by the names as he had been, so. . .do you have any other ideas?"

Suddenly, she wasn't the only one smirking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*fanfare plays* Yeah! Chapter three is finished! I think I wrote this one faster than I wrote the first one. Yay me. It really only took me one evening, but I couldn't find the muse earlier. . .that's why it took so long. *ahem* Now for my thank you's!

As always, thanks to A.M. Winters for being my beta reader! Though, it would be nice if she gave me some input on what she thought of the story too! *pouts* lol BTW, I know it wasn't much, but there was a little more of "Harry and co." in this one. 

And also to Spaced Out Space Cadet. You always review my stuff and it makes me happy :)

And those were all the reviews I got. I love you two, and all that, but if you're the only ones reading. . .what happened to all the people who said I should keep writing? If no one else is reading this, I'm gonna finished Father Figure and forget this one. Please review!!! SOS! "Save our story!" lol


	4. Loving Parents

The next morning at breakfast and lunch that afternoon the four sat discussing all sorts of absurd things they could do to Draco, including things that couldn't possibly be done in Hogwarts: ideas involving prank phone calls in the middle of the night and treasure hunts to find his toothpaste, or Potions homework…stupid stuff like that.  None of the ideas were that do-able, but they had fun talking about them anyway.

After laughing about an insane idea involving live raccoons and peanut butter, Victoria looked up at the sound of fluttering near the ceiling.  Mail time.  Despite the fact that she was sitting at the wrong table, her parents' owl was still able to find her.  "Hello Porgy," she said to the owl while affectionately scratching his neck as she detached the letter from his leg.  As soon as she was finished, he hooted once and soared back out the open window.

_I didn't expect them to write to me so soon,_ Victoria sighed as she opened the letter.

**Walter and I are going on a trip.  We are not able to give more information then that.  We may receive owls, but this is the last one from us you will get for a while.  I hope everything is alright.**

**Constance******

Walter and I?  Not dad and I, but Walter.  No "love mom," but instead just a cold signature at the bottom…  Victoria was pissed.  They always did this to her, but this time it was as though they didn't want someone who may read the letter to know they were talking to their daughter!  At least this time she wouldn't be left alone while they were gone.  She wrinkled the letter in her fist and savored the sound it made before stuffing it in her pocket and standing up.

"What's up?" asked Ron curiously.  He had obviously seen her destroy her letter.

"Oh nothing.  Just my parents being their usual loving selves.  I have to go, though.  I may sit with you tonight at dinner, if you don't mind."

There was a chorus of "not at all's" and "yeah sure's" from the other three that put a brief smile on her face before she bid them goodbye and walked stiff-backed out of the Great Hall.

When she got back to the Slytherin common room her temper was almost too much for her to handle.  She sprinted to the 6th year girls' dorm and proceeded to hex everything she owned.  After all her clothes were splayed across the room and hanging at random places, she began to scream and kick her bed.

_I hate them!! I HATE THEM!!!!_  She thought savagely.  She kicked at the bedpost one more time before allowing herself to fall face first into her bed, sobbing loudly.  She thought she heard a noise near the door, but when she looked up, she saw nothing, and so resumed her crying.

Ten minutes later, thanking whoever would listen that no one had walked in while she had shown such weakness, she sat up and looked at her reflection, cringing as she saw the red puffiness of her eyes.  "I hate them," she whispered to her reflection.

She stood and, using a spell her mother had taught her when she was eight, she gathered all her clothes together, and with a flick of her wrist, folded them and lay them gently back into her trunk.

She looked at the clock and saw that she had only another 10 minutes before Transfiguration.  Not enough time to let her face cool on its own.  Looking back into the mirror, she cast an ice charm on her face.  The soothing coolness reduced the redness and lessened the puffiness slightly.  Enough that she was sure no one would notice she'd be crying.

She then grabbed her things and headed to the Transfiguration room.  When she walked in, five minutes later, she saw Draco flinch and try to hide himself against the far right wall.  She wasn't in the mood.  She took a seat in the back left corner.  Draco watched her the whole time, and she saw, out of the corner of her eye, that he sighed and slumped in his seat when she sat down so far from him.

Others entered right after her.  When she saw Harry, Ron and Hermione walk in, she ducked down, as though looking for something under her desk, until the three sat down.  Near the front, thankfully.  Pansy came in not long after and made to walk towards Draco…until she saw Victoria sitting off by herself.  With a very wicked smile on her face, Pansy walked toward her.

Victoria thought she'd rather eat her parents' owl alive then have Pansy sit next to her when she was in this mood, but unfortunately, Porgy wasn't around, so she didn't have that option.

Pansy settled herself next to Victoria and smiled again.  If she smiled like that one more time, Victoria was afraid she might not be able to restrain herself.  They'd be sending Pansy to the nurse with instructions to dislodge a wand from her pug-like nose.  And that wouldn't be very good, because then Victoria wouldn't be able to participate in any hands on wand lessons for the next several hours afterwards.

The class had started and Professor McGonagall was giving instructions on how to turn a Doberman Pincher into a pair of pliers when Pansy decided to talk.

"Have a good cry?" she whispered savagely.

Victoria paled.  Someone had walked in.  Oh cripes!  Why did it have to be Pansy?

She sighed.  "Oh, I couldn't help it.  I accidentally looked over at lunch and saw you eating, and the sight so traumatized me that I couldn't contain my tears of repulsion," she whispered with a break in her voice, so as to make it sound like she was going to cry again.  She allowed her lower lip to tremble a bit, as though fighting back tears before she set her attention back on Professor McGonagall.

She heard Pansy growl beside her and just barely suppressed a smile.  _That's two for __Victoria__: nil for Pansy._

As the class worked individually for the next hour, Victoria had an even harder time than she usually did in Transfiguration.  The raven she was supposed to be turning into an alarm clock kept pecking at her and Pansy's insistent chuckles kept breaking her concentration.  Transfiguration had always been one of Victoria's worst classes and sitting next to Pansy wasn't going to make it any better.  If it weren't for the fact that the raven seemed just as annoyed with Pansy as she was (it began to peck at her instead of Victoria after only a few minutes) she wasn't sure she would have gotten through the class.

But it finally ended and as she walked out, Victoria thankfully retreated back into her own mind.  She had divinations next, and if the rumors she'd heard earlier were true, Professor Trelawney would probably like her more if she seemed distant and completely out of it…like Professor Trelawney herself was.  She had also heard that Trelawney wasn't the only Divinations teacher, but since both Professors had to have a class, those late to enroll were not given the choice of whose class they wanted to be in.  Personally, Victoria would have loved to take a class with a Centaur.  They were so majestic and intelligent.  He was probably the only Centaur ever to teach humans, too, but she wasn't in his class because her parents had waited too dang long.  She sighed and continued walking up to the tower.

She was thinking hard, which is why, when she climbed into the murky incense clouded room her eyes were glazed over, keeping her from noticing the figure in front of her…until she knocked into it.

"Oof!" was the only sound she heard before looking up and seeing Platinum blonde hair.  She jumped back and tried to pretend like nothing had happened before he turned around.  Too late.  Draco turned toward her with a sneer that was quickly replaced by a look of horror.  He jumped back just like she had.

Despite the mood she was in, Victoria couldn't help but smile and raise an eyebrow knowingly.  The sneer, however, quickly came back to Draco's face, making Victoria sigh.  Why was everyone getting their backbones today of all days?  Couldn't she just torment people without them doing so back?  No, I suppose not.

"Watch where you're going, _Vicky," he spat at her._

She started batting her eyelashes.  "Why do I need to look where I'm going when all I do is follow you, Duckling?"  And, making good of her words, she followed a very disgruntled Draco to a table and sat down next to him, pulling her poof closer to his so as to annoy him further.

Trelawney swept in with a clink of bracelets and necklaces as she surveyed the class through very thick spectacles.  One word came to Victoria's mind: moth.

"Hello again sixth years.  I knew I would be seeing you, but it's so nice to see you in reality and not just in my visions.  I see we have a new sixth year.  I knew it would be so.  Please, stand up and introduce yourself."  She beckoned to Victoria, who shook her head as politely as she could.  This was like transferring to a new class in grade school.

"Come now, don't be shy."

Victoria rolled her eyes as she stood to the sound of Draco's sniggers.

"I am Victoria Taliaferro."  Sweet and simple.

Trelawney looked at her as though expecting more.  Seeing that she wouldn't be getting any, the Professor huffed and looked at her closer.  When their noses were but three inches apart, Trelawney gasped and pulled away as though frightened.  

"Oh, my dear!" she cooed.  "One of your parents is destined to die on their journey this week."  Half the class rolled their eyes, but a couple of Gryffindor girls near the front gasped also.  Victoria just looked at her impassively.  They stayed like that for several minutes, Trelawney obviously hoping for more of a reaction.  When she didn't get one, she huffed again and turned back to the rest of the class.  

"Since we had some delays in my teaching last year, due to unforeseeable circumstances – I of course knew they were coming, but there was nothing I could do about them! – my teaching last year was cut a bit short.  I would like to finish off the unit on dreams.  This means you will be working in pairs.  Partner with someone at your own table."  Draco groaned.

Victoria turned and smiled at him.  He wouldn't look at her.  After a few minutes, when they were still sitting like that, Trelawney walked over to them.  "Is there a problem?"

"Well, kind of, Professor," Victoria began speaking before Draco could do more than open his mouth.  "You see, I'm having problems interpreting a dream of Draco's" the name burned on her tongue, but she couldn't very well call him a nickname in front of this coot.  "It involved me holding a butcher knife above my head and chasing after him.  I just can't figure what it means."

For the second time in two days, Draco fell out of his chair.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thanks always to A.M. Winters for being my beta reader.

Sarah Sparrow:  Thanks!  I'm glad you like it.

Spaced Out Space Cadet:  Well, here you go, I didn't stop writing :)  I hope I continue to get new reviewers, though.

Currer Bell:  Thanks for the long review.  I know she's a sue, but I love her anyway ;)


	5. Slytherin Truce

Yeah!  I know, I bet y'all are about to faint, huh?  I'm actually posting a new chapter!  Can you believe it?  Well, of course, I have my beta, A.M. Winters, to thank!  Other thank you's are on the bottom...sadly, there aren't many *sniffs* On with the story!  Hope you like!

Divinations went by quickly, much to her chagrin.  "Drakie" seemed to wilt as the class went on and then bloom again as soon as the bell rang.  _Too bad this wasn't Herbology.  I probably could have done a great project on the sprouting from Duckling to Dragon.  Victoria followed Draco out of the...classroom and her feet had just barely touched the floor after climbing down the latter when she saw Draco duck around the corner.  _A bit hurried to get away from me, isn't he?  Maybe I'll get a better reaction out of him now.__

Victoria looked down at her schedule to see that her next class was in fact Herbology.  _Will I get to study this phenomenon again, from up close? she thought with a smirk.  Unfortunately, blooming-Dragon was not in this class with her.  _

The hour went by very slowly indeed.  They were working with one of the foulest vegetation she'd never heard of (that's right; she'd never heard of...Professor Sprout had a very unique garden).  The Glowssa, which looked like very large, very prickly, green tongues, made rather disgusting sucking noises if left alone for too long and would go limp if handled too long.  They had been asked to harvest the spikes on the lower bit of the...plants, but after getting one off, the Glowssa would go limp and detract all of its spikes.  They often had to wait several minutes before the creatures would "wake up" again in order to pull another off...at which time the process was repeated.

Victoria was having a devil of a time with her Glowssa.  It seemed to sense her presence and every time she reached for a spike, it would detract.  After this had happened half a dozen times she called Professor Sprout over.  "What exactly are these things for, anyway?" she asked without much patience.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, obviously excited with getting to explain.  "I forgot to say, didn't I?"  She turned toward the class and raised her voice.  "I just realized that I forgot to explain the purpose of this project.  Silly me," she giggled.  The rest of the class looked at her with blank stares.  It seemed Victoria wasn't the only one having difficulties.  "The Glowssa buds are used in many advanced potions, usually in those involving speech and other sounds.  Why, I hear that those of you in N.E.W.T. level potions will be using these quite a bit this year."  She smiled warmly and walked away.  The class got back to work.  Victoria scowled.  _Referring to these things as "buds" rather scares me...  I hope it means they sprout flowers or the like, and not something else.  Victoria shuddered at the thought_

In the course of an hour she had only succeeded in procuring a handful of the wretched things and was quite the worse for wear.  Not only was she sweaty and covered in dirt and fertilizer, but after each bud was harvested a very thick substance, with the consistency of syrup, would secrete itself from the hole.  She had gotten it all over her hands and even a bit on her face.  She decided to run to the dormitories for a quick shower before dinner.  

When the bell rang she wasn't the only one trying to get out of there as soon as possible.  It seemed as though the whole class had gotten the same idea as her, because no one seemed to be heading to the Great Hall as of yet.

She was almost sprinting down the hall when she heard a voice, just inside one of the doors in the hall.  The voice continued to swear, a string of profanities, as she slid to a stop and stepped closer.  The door, which was just barely opened, led to what appeared to be an old potions classroom.  Victoria peeked around to see Professor Snape cursing over a boiling cauldron.  She stepped closer to the door to get a better view, when her foot caught something slippery on the floor and she found herself sprawled on her butt in the hall, after making a lot of racket.

She heard footsteps and she knew she was done for, but the position she was in right now – sprawled on the floor as she was – was not one to be gotten out of easily.  She had just pushed herself onto her knees when the door opened the rest of the way and a very red-faced Professor Snape glared down at her.

"What was all that noise?"  he asked her harshly.

"I...I fell, sir."

"Well, don't do it again."  Victoria blinked, thinking how she was to carry out this order.

"Was something...wrong, sir?"  Victoria asked as she continued to pick herself up off the cold stone floor.

"No, of course not.  Why do you ask?"  Victoria shivered.

"I just, er, overheard you swearing at something, that's all, sir."  Victoria very much wished she was still on the floor after seeing the look on Professor Snape's face...she'd be farther from his grasp if she was still on the floor.

Snape's face cleared quite suddenly as he looked more closely at her.  "Aren't you supposed to be eating right now?"

"Yes, sir, but I just had Herbology and..."

"Ah yes.  I understand.  What did Madame Spout make you handle today?"

Victoria smiled slightly seeing that Snape obviously understood what she had been saying.  "Glowssa, sir."

"Ah yes.  Filthy little flora, aren't they?"

Victoria almost chocked.  It looked as though Professor Snape was going to laugh.  How very odd.

"Well, run along.  I need to get back to work, and I don't appreciate students spying on me."  Victoria blushed, which only proved to make Snape's knowing look more pronounced.

"Is there anything I can do to help?"  _Where did that come from?  Are you insane?_

Snape sneered, then his face calmed.  "Come back to this room after you're finished eating and I'll answer that question."

"I will."

~*~*~*~*~*~

As Victoria walked back to the Great Hall after her shower, she wondered at her own luck.  She had talked to Snape outside of class and hadn't gotten detention.  She would admit that she didn't know the man well but she knew_ that_ was a big deal.

She sat with the Gryffindors during dinner, after she had finished eating at her own table.  Once again, Draco had been flanked by people on both sides, so she had sat a bit down the table.  She barely looked at him the whole time.  However, she felt someone staring at her quite a bit.  Probably that wench Parkinson.

She was tempted to tell her Gryffindor friends about what happened with Snape, but for some reason, she wouldn't dare.  She was pretty sure they didn't like him...'course, had she been in any other house, would she feel anything other than hatred toward him?  Perhaps, but now was not the time to analyze.  She did want to share this information with someone.  It was like having a new toy but no one to play with.  _Bad analogy,_ thought Victoria cryptically as she bade goodbye to her friends and started for the dungeons.

There was really no reason to rush, so Victoria found herself casually strolling down the halls when she heard footsteps behind her; lone footsteps.  Not really sure why, Victoria didn't want whoever it was to see her.  So she hid in a crevice in the wall, confident that in the dim light, the passerby would not see her.

She waited, barely breathing as the owner of the footsteps drew nearer.  As the footsteps got louder, she was also able to hear the walker mumbling to himself.  "Damn that Parkinson.  If she touches me one more time, I'll hex her.  Hell, if she _looks at me again I will!"  He stopped walking just before reaching Victoria's hiding place and turned around.  "Do you hear me, Parkinson?  Don't ever look at me again!" he shouted down the hall then resumed his muttering, and his walking.  "Of course she doesn't hear you, she's still stuffing her face.  She's as bad as Crabbe and Goyle.  No one can hear you from down here."_

"No one?" Victoria spoke under her breath, a smile forming on her face.  Grasped by a fit of inspiration, Victoria let herself solidify into the light.  "You're having problems with her too, huh?"

"What the –"  Draco spun on the spot and looked like he was about to fall over when he saw who it was.  His face went from pasty white – whiter than usual, that is – to crimson: from fear to embarrassment.  It wasn't hard to see that he knew she'd heard the whole thing.

"What's it to you?"

"Oh, it's nothing to me.  I just figured that, being someone that Pansy annoys the crap out of, I could use the help of someone else that's having problems with her.  But, I can see by the look on your face that you'd rather deal with Parkinson than get help from me, so I'll just be going now."

She turned on her heal and continued down the hall.  _One.__  Two.  Three.  Fou –_

"Wait!"  she heard from behind her.  She stopped and turned, as though quite shocked at being stopped.  Draco ran up to her, but wouldn't look her in the eye as he scowled down at his own feet.

"Did you have something in mind?" he asked in a voice that belied his interest.

Victoria, knowing that he couldn't see her, smiled cruelly before speaking.  "First things first!"  He looked up at her now, a question in his eyes.  "Truce?"

Draco stared down at her hand for a long time before looking back at her.  His face was set and his jaw tense before he reached out his hand and shook hers.

"Truce."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Spaced Out Space Cadet – Thank you, as always!  You are my most trustworthy reviewer!  It makes me wanna cry *sniffles*  Oh, and you may begin to feel even more sorry for Draco after a while.  Hehehe

Risika07T – Thanks to you too!  I'm glad you like the story, and I'm glad you like Victoria.  I sure like her too...she is me...only way more awesome.  Lol


	6. Telepathy and Stewed Tongues

Victoria smiled triumphantly as she released her grip on Draco's hand.  He, however, looked faintly sick.  This only made her smile all the more.

"So, what do you suggest?" he asked tentatively.

"Well, I suggest you continue on with what you were doing; I believe that was running away from Pansy to the dormitories.  Really not a bad plan for the moment.  I, on the other hand have an appointment."

"With whom?" Draco asked with obvious suspicion.

"Well, as though you have any right to know, Professor Snape."  Victoria began walking down the hall again and Draco fell into step with her.

"I didn't know you had gotten detention."

Victoria rolled her eyes.  "I didn't get detention.  I may be helping him with a potion."

"You 'may' be helping him?  You mean you don't know?"

"Goodness, you sure are full of questions now that we've made that truce."  From the look on his face, she figured she needed to start being a little more gentle.  She wondered briefly what Parkinson had done this time to have had such an effect.

"Sorry," she began.  Draco looked shocked by this declaration.  Victoria was tempted to roll her eyes again.  "I meant that I may be helping him if it's possible to help him.  I uh...stumbled upon him swearing at his cauldron and asked if I could help somehow.  After being significantly Snape-like he finally told me to come back here after dinner to see if perhaps I could help.  That's what I meant."

"Weird," was all Draco said.

"Yes, well, here we are," she pointed out as she stopped right outside the old potions classroom.  She could no longer hear Professor Snape swearing, but she could hear something...she just wasn't sure what it was.  Victoria began to head towards the door when Draco stopped her.

"Wait.  Before, when I asked what you had in mind, I meant about Parkinson."

Victoria smiled kindly, but not without amusement.  "I know."

And with that being said, she pushed open the door and stepped inside, leaving a very perplexed Draco behind.

"Bloody Americans," he muttered under his breath.  

*

As soon as she stepped in, Victoria saw what it was that was making the indistinguishable noise.  Professor Snape was no longer working at the cauldron.  Instead, he had found himself a nice little corner and was periodically knocking his head against the wall.

Feeling bold after her encounter with Draco, Victoria decided to go out on a limb...one that might cost her more than just the honor of helping her professor with his work.  "I wouldn't imagine that brick on the forehead will do anything for your potion, Professor."

He growled as he turned around, but he didn't scold her, so Victoria didn't lose her nerve.  "You told me if I came back you would inform me on whether or not you could use my help.  Could you, or am I just getting in the way?"

He looked at her for a long moment without speaking and Victoria had her first moment of disappointment, thinking perhaps he would tell her to leave.  What he said, however, was, "What do you know about speech potions?"

Victoria thought for a moment.  "Not much, except that they are usually very difficult due to the rarity of some of the ingredients and their preparation before-hand.  Well, that and that Glowssa buds are usually used." Victoria shivered just thinking about those repulsive undergrowth.  "Why?  Is that what you were working on?"

He nodded and walked back over to his cauldron.  "I prepared some of the trickier ingredients weeks ago, but it seems that one of your fellow students thought it would be funny to switch the prepared ones for the unprepared!"  He held up a bit of shriveled dragon tongue as he spoke.  "I stewed my tongues for exactly thirty-five hours – exactly! – and I get it to add to the potion and someone had replaced it with these...these...half-baked withered tongues!"

Victoria sincerely wanted to laugh her head off at the way he was fuming about his "stewed tongues" and how the others were only "half-baked."  It sounded like some very twisted cooking show.  There were two reasons, though, that she didn't laugh.  One was the fact that making this man mad could just about ruin her academic life...or maybe just her life in general.  And two, he just kept talking without coming up for air, so she couldn't laugh without interrupting; and interrupting someone when they 're talking is rude.

"I had just placed one of these poor excuses for a stewed tongue in when you walked by.  My perfectly done potion, which was supposed to be almost half finished, began to splutter and it threw bits of itself all over the room.  And, as I saw when I found you sprawled on the ground, it also got a bit of itself _out of the room!"_

Victoria was sure he would have continued, if not for the sudden noise.  Professor Snape growled again as he went and opened the door, behind which the sound had generated.  And, who would have guessed?  There was Draco Malfoy in just about the same position Victoria had been in earlier that evening.  Apparently Professor Snape had not bothered to clean up the "bit" of his potion that had gotten out of the room, despite the consequences he'd already suffered – namely, Victoria.

"What exactly are you doing on the floor, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I fell."

"Yes, I seem to be getting that excuse often today."  Snape shot a look at Victoria that left her blushing again.  The look on Draco's face showed that he had just discovered why Victoria had used the word "stumble" when describing what had happened here earlier.  She was not happy about that discovery.

"Well, Mr. Malfoy, there is quite a bit of hall over_ there_ that doesn't have anything you could slip in, so I wonder why you had been walking along this exact part of the floor.  Perhaps you were spying on me as well?"  Victoria flinched.  Was he going to let Draco know about _everything_?  She was not at all enjoying the looks either of them was sending her way.

"No, sir, I wasn't spying on you.  I was just..."  Draco hesitated.  If he hadn't been spying on Snape, Victoria was just as curious as Snape to find out what he had been doing.

"Well?  Out with it, boy!"

"Nothing, sir.  I just fell."  Snape snorted at this and growled, once again, as he turned back to his cauldron.  He turned quickly back to them, though.  The suddenness of it made Victoria flinch while Draco recoiled as though he'd just been bitten.

"I suppose since both of you are here, it may be helpful to have two competent potions students to help me with this."  Snape looked each of them over, as though weighing their talent.

"Um...help you with what, sir?" Victoria asked, feigning timidity.  Draco shot her a gaze at this statement that seemed to be asking "where did that come from?"

"Well, my potion of course.  I need to have it all done by your class next week, and I can't possibly prepare the tongues again and do everything else required of this potion.  So, you will work on the potion while I prepare the ingredients."  He said it so matter-of-factly that Victoria really didn't know how to respond.  "Unless, of course, you're not going to offer your service now."

"Oh, no sir.  I mean, yes sir.  I mean my service is still offered...sir."  Victoria could hear Draco chuckling at her lack of coherency and she almost turned around and slapped him.  That wouldn't _really_ break the truce, would it?

"And you, Mr. Malfoy?"  That shut Draco up real quickly.

"What?  Oh, er...yeah."  Victoria snorted her own laugh at his lack of sentence structure, and suddenly felt much better.  Unfortunately, the exchange was not lost on Professor Snape.

"Now, if you would stop trying to humiliate each other, we can all get to work."

Draco and Snape moved toward the cauldron, which Snape emptied with a wave of his wand, and Victoria followed slowly.  "I just have one question, Professor."

He turned to look at her, a slightly vexed expression on his face.  "And that is?"

"What exactly is this potion supposed to do?"

Snape's vexed expression turned to one of cruel amusement.  "Have you ever heard of telepathy?"

~*~*~*~

Madame Moony – You don't understand Victoria?  Yeah, I don't understand me either ;)  I hope you like where I take this story.

Spaces Out Space Cadet – Yay!  Thanks for reviewing again!  Well, now you know what he's working on (kind of *evil grins*) and Draco continues to be a twitchy little ferret.  Too bad she doesn't know that joke, huh?  *gets idea...*


	7. Sweet Revenge

Yay!  Thanks to my beta reader A. M. Winters and to my reviewer (notice the word is in it's singular form) Spaced Out Space Cadet.  I'm glad to have such a faithful reviewer; thank you so much!  I hope you guys (or maybe just the one girl that will read it lol) like this chapter.  I'm still not sure if I do or not...  I hate putting plot in my stories (which is why I've never finished one!!  lol) so I have a feeling that that is why I don't like it...because the plot begins to thicken.  I hope you like it though!

The temperature of the room rose greatly as Victoria and Draco worked on the potion.  She was not appreciating the condescending looks Draco was giving here and was very tempted to stuff some of his freshly shaven bat eyes down his robe, but knew that the only thing that would get her was detention.  

Snape was off in one of the corners muttering at his stewing dragon tongues as though he didn't realize he was making any noise.  At one point a very of his jumbled words reached the student's ears and the two of them had to keep themselves from giggling, which was difficult to do, considering that they were in each other's peripheral vision.  If Victoria started shaking with trapped laughter, Draco would snort and start all over again, making Victoria laugh harder as well.

_Fancy that.  The big tough Slytherin king knows how to giggle.  Dang he's hot when he smiles.  Heck, he's hot when he smirks, and when he scowls...and when he's shocked._  Victoria imagined her first day at Hogwarts and wished she'd had a picture of the face Draco had made when she'd spanked him.  Priceless!

Draco looked at Victoria when he noticed she'd suddenly stopped giggling.  She blushed, he looked confused, and she started giggling yet again.

It began to get late, and they were coming to a stopping point.  Professor Snape's tongues had to stew for another thirty hours, and the potion, as it was, needed to sit over night.  Snape came over to examine there work, after Victoria had been yawning for a good ten minutes.

His eyebrows rose when he saw their work.  "Very well done.  I'm surprised you were able to do so well when you never stopped laughing."  The two students avoided his eyes, as well as each other's and Victoria had a very hard time keeping herself from laughing again.  She knew Snape wouldn't appreciate it, and poor Draco wouldn't be able to keep from laughing himself.

"Can I expect you around the same time tomorrow?  Just finish you dinner and come here straight away."

"Yes, sir," they said in unison.

"You may go.  But remember to turn the heat down to a simmer.  I wouldn't want this potion to boil over in the middle of the night.  I lose more good help that way."  Victoria and Draco seemed to be thinking the same thing because they both had the same shocked look on their faces.  Had Professor Snape just made a joke?

Draco turned down the heat while Victoria cleaned up the left over ingredients, and put away the ones they would be using during the next few days.  As they finished, they both walked out without bidding Professor Snape goodbye, but it didn't seem to bother him at all, so they took no notice.

Victoria and Draco walked down the hall toward the dormitory, both yawning and lost in their own thoughts.  Victoria was shocked to notice how comfortable it was walking along with Draco beside her.  Shocked, and somewhat wary.  Draco's attitude toward her proved that he was not the easiest person to get along with, and she did so have a habit of getting involved with guys that didn't treat her well.

_What am I thinking?  We made a truce and we worked on a potion together.  That's all!  Pull yourself together, Taliaferro_.  Her thoughts were cut off by another large yawn that caused her jaw to crack.  Draco snorted a short laugh again right before he yawned as well.  Victoria only grinned as he glared at her with a look that said he was blaming her for making him yawn.

They reached the dorm without talking, and the common room was empty when they gave the password and walked in.  Very peculiar.  "How late is it?" Victoria asked.

"Obviously much later than we thought.  Good thing Filch didn't catch us, because I have a suspicion that it's way past curfew."  Victoria only shrugged and sat down on one of the fluffy green and silver couches.

"So, do you still want to know what I have planned for Parkinson?"  At her words, Draco seemed to immediately wake up.  He looked as though he was about to take a seat with her at the couch but then thought better of it.  He sat instead on one of the chairs facing her.  "There's plenty of room on this couch, Duckling," she said teasingly, but realized fairly quickly that she really would have preferred he sit next to her.  _Augh__!  Get a grip!_

All he did was glare at her.  "I thought that truce meant you'd stop calling me those names."

Victoria adopted an innocent look.  "You only thought that because I use the name Draco when we are in front of teachers.  But now we're alone."  Draco looked like he was about the bolt, so Victoria laughed.  "Calm down.  I'm not going to bite, and it's not like I'm gonna kiss you or anything."  The look she gave him, however, said just the opposite.  She laughed inwardly, watching him squirm.  At length, however, she saw his reaction was a bit different.  A little more nervous that usual, if that was possible.  "You know I'm just joking, right?"

He mumbled something that she couldn't quite make out.  "What was that?"

"I don't need another Parkinson."  Victoria suddenly understood.

"Oh!  So that's the problem you have with her!"  She laughed as she thought of something.  "Oh, Duckling, you have just given me the greatest idea!  A sweet little revenge that will get her off your back, and give me a few chances to one-up her.  My dear Dragon, this has got to be the best idea I've ever had."

Victoria kept Draco up well past midnight to tell him all the details, he even added a few thoughts himself.  Victoria was delighted to see how much he was getting into this, and she only hoped it went as well as they had planned.  They couldn't believe how many things fell into place with their plan as they talked it through.

   At length, when the sky looked as though the sun was about to make an appearance, and the two were about to fall asleep in their respective chairs, they decided to head off to bed.  The next morning would be an interesting one indeed but sleep...ah well sleep, in this plan, would be irrelevant.


	8. Plan in Motion

"Where were you last night?"

Draco, yawning widely looked up into the face of Pansy Parkinson.  It was a good thing his mouth was otherwise occupied, because he would have started laughing at her expression.

"What do you mean?" he asked, faking innocence.

"I mean you left early from dinner and I didn't see you for the rest of the evening.  Where were you?"  Her voice began rising in pitch as she spoke, sounding like she was about to start crying; or just whining, one of the two.

"I was around," he answered her offhandedly as he stood and stretched grabbing his bag and books from the couch behind him.

"You were around?  What's that supposed to mean?  I asked you to meet me here last night.  I waited until after midnight.  Why weren't you here?"

_Note to self: thank Snape for keeping me out late._  "Yeah, I know, I'm sorry," he almost choked on those last words.  _Sorry?  Ha!  I'm elated!_  "I had other things to do though."  Draco began feeling that this conversation was going nowhere and was about to leave quickly when he saw his accomplice walk into the common room.

"'Morning Vicky."  His tongue burned from using that name, but it had been Victoria's idea.  She giggled as she walked over to them.

"I told you not to call me that," she teased as she playfully slapped his arm.  "Oh!  Good morning Pansy.  You look well rested.  That's more than I can say for D – I mean, more than I can say for myself."  Victoria yawned.

"What is going on here, Draco?" she asked, turning Draco by the shoulder so that he was no longer looking at Victoria.

"Is there something going on?"  He adopted a very confused look as he turned back to Victoria.  "How did you sleep last night?"

"Appallingly!  I've never been so sore in my life!  Well, I'm going to go to breakfast.  Sit by me?" Victoria asked coyly, laughing inwardly at the look on Pansy's face.

"Of course!"  Draco laughed as he watched Victoria leave, Pansy's eyes never leaving her until she was out of site.  When she turned back to him he yawned again, hoping that the conversation would finally head in the right direction.  This part of the plan was essential.

"You seem very tired," Pansy cooed, masking her obvious rage.

"Yeah.  We got detention last night with Snape."

"WE?" growled Pansy.

"Did I say we?  I meant that _I_ got detention, of course."

"Of course."  She smiled in a way that did nothing to hide her true feelings.

"Well, I really should get to breakfast.  Vicky doesn't like being kept waiting."  He turned and casually walked toward the exit.

"I don't like waiting either," Pansy whined pouting sulkily from behind him.

Draco gladly ignored her as he whistled to himself and walked smiling into the dungeon corridor.

Victoria was waiting for him right outside the door, an expectant look on her face.  "Well?  How did it go?"  She was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet waiting for the whole story.

Looking back at the wall where the door had been, he pulled her down the hall before speaking.  "She might come out right behind me, so it's best if we keep moving."  They began walking in silence, until Victoria couldn't stand it any longer and asked him to tell her how it had gone.  Draco smiled viciously before answering.  "Just as you said it would."

Victoria clapped and Draco had to hold her down when she tried to bounce and spin while laughing.  "People are going to know something is going on if you don't stop this!"  Victoria sobered immediately but her lips twitched with her suppressed mirth if she didn't keep it in check.  Draco sighed thinking that Victoria was going to drive him nutters before they ever completed this plan.  He looked at her briefly before speaking.  "Is it really necessary that we spend this much time together?"

She snorted a laugh trying, and failing, to keep her face straight.  "In a couple of days the plot will thicken, and then you will very well be parted from my company for as long as is essential.  Trust me.  You'll get used to it."  She smiled mischievously at him.  He groaned, making her giggle again.

"Can you at least try to act sane?"

"Hey, if we actually were dating as, if you remember," she whispered, "we're pretending to be, then," she continued in a normal voice: "one is usual happier.  You should try it.  You know...being happier.  People may suspect if you act towards me the same way you had before."

Draco glared which made Victoria smirk...which made Draco glare harder.  "I think I did a pretty good job of that around Pansy."  He almost winced.  His voice had sounded very sulky.

"Oh!  It's okay widdle Duckwing," she paused with a sick look on her face.  "Yeah, I'll stop with the baby voice.  It was okay until I had to change the 'l' in Duckling to a 'w'.  That's just wrong.  Anyway, you're right, you did a very good job convincing Pansy, but can you convince the whole school?"  She took a couple steps at a skip and turned around until she was facing him bowed over slightly with her fingers laced together behind her back.  Draco stopped dead in his tracks.  "Think you can do it?"  He rolled his eyes and walked by her.

_Perfect_, Victoria thought seeing him stalk past her.  "You can do it!" she growled with her best dumb jock impression as she smacked him, again, squarely on the backside.

He stopped again and rounded on her, his face furious, if a bit red.  "Don't do that," he hissed through clenched teeth.  Victoria wasn't fazed by his fury, but instead started pouting.

"Why not?"

"Just…don't," he responded as he turned on his heal and continued to walk down the hall.

"But it's so cute!" she added, laughing as his step fumbled and he almost fell.  He didn't even bother answering, just walked concentrating very hard on not falling and absolutely not blushing!

"Are you coming?" he growled from several steps ahead of her.  She smiled broadly and took her place by his side trying hard not to laugh at the emotions playing across his face.

"Can you believe this?"  Harry asked at lunch that day.

"Believe what?" Ron's reply was made between mouthfuls of food.

"That," answered Harry with a vague gesture towards the Slytherin table.

"How can you expect me to believe anything going on at the Slytherin table?  I mean, look at them.  They – wait a second!  What's Victoria doing sitting next to Malfoy?"

"Exactly."  The two boys stared bewildered for a few seconds before another voice joined the conversation.

"Who's sitting next to Malfoy?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Just look," answered Harry, unable to say more.

Hermione snorted in a way that almost sounded like a laugh.  "More importantly, notice who's shooting visual daggers at her from just down the table?"

"What are you getting at?" Ron's head swiveled from side to side trying to see who she was talking about.  From across the table, Ginny, who had up till now stayed out of the conversation, grabbed hold of Ron's head and pointed it in the right direction.  "Oh," was all he said.

"What's wrong with Pansy?  She looks like she ate something that's not sitting well."

"Or she's just looking at something that's making her feel ill."  Harry gave her a confused look, while Ron continued to look back and forth between Victoria and Draco, then Pansy, as though trying hard to figure something out.

Hermione sighed in exasperation, but it was Ginny who answered.  "Well, let's look at this logically," she shared a smile with Hermione that spoke volumes about what they thought about Harry and Ron's logic.  "Pansy is glaring at Victoria with undisguised hatred in her eyes.  Pansy, undoubtedly, likes Malfoy.  Malfoy is sitting next to Victoria.  You do the math."

Harry had the grace to look abashed seeing how obvious it was, but Ron's face was still serious.  "So, you're saying that Pansy appears ill when she looks at Victoria because Victoria is sitting next to Malfoy.  So...does that mean that Pansy is jealous of Victoria for sitting next to Malfoy?" he finished with disgust.

"There you have it!"  Ginny exclaimed.  "The boy can be taught...if you go slow and use very small words."  Everyone but Ron laughed at this; Hermione laughed the loudest.

Smiling, Victoria watched her friends over at the Gryffindor table laughing.  She wished briefly that she had been able to convince Draco to allow them to participate, but he had been quite adamant.  Too bad.  Now she'd have to get them involved without his knowledge.  She smiled wickedly at the thought, and was only just able to school her features as she felt Draco shift beside her to look her way.

A smile plastered to his face, he whispered through clenched teeth.  "Is this supposed to be working this way?"

"What way?" Victoria asked innocently, enjoying the strain on Draco's face at keeping the smile up.

"You do realize that Pansy isn't the only one taking notice of this whole situation, right?"  He looked nervously around him while still trying to keep the smile.  The result was a kind of sickly sweet scowl that didn't reach his lips.  Interesting…

"Of course I realized that.  Its part of the plan," Victoria whispered back, having a much easier time of keeping her smile in place; her smile was real, brought on by the almost adorably uncomfortable faces Draco was making.  "Pansy isn't going to believe somthing is going on if no one else believes."

He glared at her, losing the smile for a split second before remembering himself and hiding the slip behind a cough.  Very satisfactory.  "What I don't understand is why half a dozen guys are congratulating me, another half a dozen are no longer speaking to me, and just as many girls are acting just as strange."

Victoria shrugged.  "Jealousy."

Draco did a double take.  "Who are they jealous of?" he asked in a very calculated tone.  Victoria rolled her eyes briefly while still smiling.

"Well, I'm just guessing, but it could be that the guys are not jealous of the same person as the girls are."  She quirked an eyebrow, waiting for it to hit him.

He screwed up his face momentarily in disgust.  "Well, I understand that the girls are jealous of you for having me, but what are the guys jealous for."

Victoria threw back her head and laugh.  "Oh Draco, you really are so witty!"  She leaned close as though to whisper in his ear, which was what she intended, not what he expected.  "I suppose you're allowed to say things like that for now, but, really…you know you want me."

"I thought that was my line," he smirked.

She leaned her head on his shoulder and laughed coyly.  "Don't you know it!" she said in a normal voice, then giggled at his response.  Appalled silence is strangely satisfactory from a guy that likes to hear the sound of his own voice.

"Stage two starts in the common room a half hour before 7 tonight.  Be sure to do your part.  Just reminding you…you know, in case you get otherwise occupied and forget" she teased, glancing down in Pansy's direction.  Draco glared at her before nodding mutely and turning suddenly back to his food.

Victoria got up from the table and headed toward the entrance hall, noticing as she did that Harry Ron and Hermione were also leaving the Great Hall.  Not only that, but, as expected, Pansy scampered to take Victoria's place when she realized Victoria was leaving.  _Perfect._

Once out of the great hall Victoria trotted to catch up with the three.  "Guys, I have a favor to ask of you. 

By the time she finished explaining Ron was nearly rolling on the ground.  "This is going to be way better than the raccoons and peanut butter!" Ron interjected halfway through, recalling their conversation on ways to torment Draco.

Victoria shook her head slowly.  "No, this is better."  Victoria was surprised to see that even Hermione was getting into it.

"Draco doesn't know about us being involved, right?"

"That is correct, sir!"

Hermione smiled in a way that reminded Victoria very much of herself.  "If this was only getting back at Pansy I wouldn't be so interested, but I can't wait to see Draco's face when our stage of the plan comes into play."  Victoria's eyes widened before grabbing Hermione in a hug and pretending to cry into her shoulder.  "Awe, Hermione!  I love you; strictly platonically, of course."  She cleared her throat, wiped her 'tears' and stepped back sniffling.

With a mischievous grin, Hermione hugged her back giggling.  Giggling!  Ron and Harry looked just as shocked.  "What," Hermione asked when she noticed their looks.  "I can afford to be girly every once in a while."

Victoria laughed, but resisted the temptation to try and get Hermione to give her a high five.  For some reason, she just didn't see that happening.  She'd have to wear Hermione down just a bit more.  These British kids were so stiff some times.  Great people and fun to hang out with…but compared to most Americans she had hung out with…just a little stiff.

Victoria looked back just in time to see Draco turning the corner towards the common room.  "Sorry guys, I have to jet.  I have a feeling something interesting is going to happen down in the Lair of the Snake."  They looked at her confused.  "Well, I hardly think that's a common room.  Common rooms are supposed to be comfortable and homey.  Anyway, I'll probably see you tomorrow."  As she turned to follow Draco, she saw Pansy leaving the Great Hall at a run.  "Right on schedule," Victoria murmured happily as she followed Pansy down to the dungeons at a safe distance.

Yay!  An update!  I am the worst procrastinator in the world!  Yay!  lol  Thanks, as ever, to AM Winters, by beta!  Here are my other thank you's:

Sarvashreshth:  Thanks!  I will continue to write…as long as I can think of more to write…lol

Spaced Out Space Cadet:  Lookie!  I updated again!  Aren't you proud of me?  I wasn't in outerspace…I was just in my own little bubble.  I'm only back temporarily :)  Thanks as always for the review!

PippinsMyHobbit:  Of course that isn't the end, silly person!  It's only just beginning!  I'm glad you found my other stories; don't worry, just because I'm updating this one and I've started another story doesn't mean I won't write more of VSW.  Thanks so much for reviewing.


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